


take the road less traveled by

by ivyabadeer



Category: The Wilds (TV 2020)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Character Analysis, Character Death, Character Study, Dreams and Nightmares, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, its not graphic don't worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:54:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29723793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivyabadeer/pseuds/ivyabadeer
Summary: Toni has never been given her own choices in life. What if one day she has to make a choice that would cost her everything?
Relationships: Shelby Goodkind/Toni Shalifoe
Comments: 1
Kudos: 38





	take the road less traveled by

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time doing anything like this, but for some reason I feel really inspired by this show. This is less of a fic and more of a character study. Hope you likeeeee

Toni had never really been given her own choices in life. Even when it seemed as if she were, what ended up happening was never her choice.

She never got to choose where she lived, she was moved from foster home to foster home without anyone ever asking her what she wanted. She never got to choose if she could stay with her birth mom, she never chose her own clothes, her own room, her own life. She definitely didn’t choose to crash land in the ocean and end up on this island.

Which brings her to where she is right now. She’s standing at the tallest peak on the entire island, and she is presented with the first choice she’s ever had. 

Martha, her best friend and chosen sister, to her left. She was dangling off of the side of a jagged cliff, her fingers giving out more every second. She was screaming for help, for Toni, for anyone. For a long time now, Marty has been Toni’s entire world, her safe haven. She was the only person that knew her better than she knew herself. Ever since they arrived on that island, it felt like something had shifted between the two. There was nothing Toni could do to hide her jealousy; seeing Martha cling to Shelby like that made her blood boil. She didn’t understand the appeal at the time, she felt like the only thing left that was familiar to her was being ripped away right before her eyes. Looking back on it now, she regrets ever feeling bitter about Marty and Shelby’s relationship. Toni knows that she is an expert at driving people away, and the problem wasn’t with Martha or Shelby, but with herself. She couldn’t understand what was so gravitating about Shelby, until recently.

There, on her right, was Shelby, the only other person in the world that made her feel like she was worth something. Although they had not known each other for long and met under the most unreal circumstances, Toni felt more than comfortable calling Shelby a soulmate. The blonde was up to her neck in quicksand, sinking quicker with every moment. Toni could see the fear in her face, the panic. She had seen those eyes before, when Leah approached her, accusing her of knowing something that the others didn’t. Pure fear had set in, and Shelby was silently pleading for Toni to help her. 

Toni looked back and forth between the two girls in need and the seconds that passed felt like hours. She knew that she was running out of time and she needed to make a choice. No matter how hard she tried she couldn’t bring herself to move. The first time she is given a real choice and she can’t even move. 

Before she could act, a scream pierced the air, louder than the ones that came before. Martha’s hands slipped, and she disappeared behind the edge of the cliff. Toni’s eyes move to Shelby, or where she used to be. Her head had been submerged now and the air was as still and stiff as Toni herself. She could feel a scream emerging from herself and a large jolt shook her body.

Toni shot straight up, breathing quickly as if she had just ran up the mountain and back down again. She looked around frantically, trying to figure out where she was.

“Hey, are you okay?” She heard a familiar and groggy voice next to her. She looked down to find the blonde that was in her dream, up to her neck in quicksand just a moment ago. However, now she was lying next to Toni, looking up to her with concerned eyes instead of panicked ones. 

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I just had a bad dream.” Toni could feel tears brimming her eyes as everything she had just seen came flooding back to her. She quickly closed them, trying to make the memory go away. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her and suddenly she felt safer. She opened her eyes again, searching for the other girl that was in her nightmare. Her eyes found Martha, she was sleeping soundly near the large fire, cuddling close to the mannequin that now had a smeared drawing of a penis. Toni was back to breathing normally now and turned to look at the girl beside her.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Shelby looked at her with the kindest expression, which still gave Toni a wave of relief, no matter how many times she gave her that look. She took Toni’s face in her hands and wiped the tears she didn’t realize had fallen.

“Tomorrow, maybe. We can go back to sleep.” Shelby nodded, though still concerned for her. They settled back down on the sand underneath them. Feeling bad that she had woken her, Toni pulled Shelby into her body, wanting her to be as close as possible. Shelby tucked her face into her neck and held her back just as tight. Even with their bodies overlapping and barely room for air between them, Toni felt that even this could never be close enough.

She sighed and kissed Shelby’s hairline, and then her forehead. “I love you.” she whispered. 

“I love you too. So much.” She felt a soft kiss on her neck and suddenly everything in the world felt okay again.

She was given a choice in her dream, Martha or Shelby. As much as she loved having control over her own life, she knew that this wasn’t an option for her, and that this was not a choice. The world is not as black and white as it seems, it is as gray as it can get. Toni told herself that from now on, she was okay with not having a choice. She was more than happy to keep living the way she had been, go with the wind and never look back. She would never have to choose between the two. 

She held the blonde a bit tighter that night, and gave Marty the best good morning hug/tackle anybody could ask for.

She was fine with not being able to choose, she could have everything she wanted, and from now on she will


End file.
